Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

If you’re really into smartphones, then you were probably on the edge of your seat waiting for the Galaxy S8 unpacked event. Samsung today unveiled their newest Galaxy S8 flagships with them “marking the new era” for smartphone design. This statement might indicate that they are “showing off”, but it is spot on. Samsung’s newest approach to smartphone design is, to say the least, stunning.

To begin with, the new Infinity “bezel-less” display gives the new Galaxy S8 a really sexy look. Just like the Galaxy Tab S3 with its HDR display, the Galaxy S8 is one of the first smartphones to come with an HDR certification. Impressive, but it isn’t something that has me really excited, especially with the unavailability of HDR content at the moment. The company did make sure to highlight their cooperation with Amazon prime video and others, to make sure more HDR content is available.

And yes, the home button is gone and is replaced by a pressure sensitive software button. To do so, Samsung had to move the fingerprint scanner to the back. In my opinion, not the best of locations, but there’s a workaround to this with the IRIS scanner.

Bixby:

Samsung’s new AI, which was announced last week, gets its own physical button on the left-hand side. According to the presentation made, Bixby will be able to understand what is going on and what it’s being asked to do. For example, you would be able to give it a command such as “capture this and send to *****”, which it should be able to perform. In their press release, Samsung specified that whatever it is you would be able to do with your hands on your smartphone, then Bixby should be able to do it through a command. Let’s see how that works out once it’s in the hands of customers…

Samsung DeX:

A feature that was really interesting to watch explained during the unpacked event was the Samsung Dex. A new “productivity” tool that allows the user to power a desktop experience from their Galaxy S8 smartphone. This is done by plugging the phone into a dock which is connected to an external monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. This is pretty cool, but thinking about it when will you actually use this feature? I for one, have my tablet and/or laptop with me at all times. When I’m at home I got my desktop ready, and the same goes for when I’m at work. I don’t see much use for it, except that it is really cool.

Galaxy S8 and S8+ specifications:

Processors: Snapdragon 835 or Exynos 9 8895

Display:

S8: 5.8″ QHD, 570 PPI

S8+: 6.2″ QHD, 529 PPI

64 GB storage capacity with expandable storage

4 GB ram

Battery:

S8: 3000 mAh battery

S8+: 3500 mAh battery

12 MP rear camera, 8 MP front camera with auto-focus

IRIS scanner and Facial Recognition

IP68 water dust resistant

Wireless Charging

It was announced that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ will be available for pre-order on the 31st of March, with a release date on the 21st of April. Of course, this won’t be the case for Lebanon. If previous years are any indicator, then the S8 should be available around the beginning of May.